Chatbots are the latest trend in e-commerce. Everyone is talking about them, but as with all trends, many questions remain unanswered:
- What exactly are chatbots?
- What types of chatbots are there?
- How “smart” are they?
- Should you invest in chatbots for your business?
What is a chatbot?
A chatbot is artificial intelligence (AI) software that can simulate a natural language conversation with a user through messaging apps, websites, mobile apps, or over the phone.
The application of chatbots to business cases is the result of the democratization of technology in recent years.
As customers become more demanding not only in how they choose to shop, but also in how they want to interact with businesses, many traditional online experiences simply aren’t capable enough.
Customers expect to be able to find the information they are looking for with the click of a button and the blink of an eye.
Types of chatbots
1. Chatbots on the website.
In many ways, website chatbots are some of the most popular types of chatbots.
With so many businesses now using convenience and live, on-site communication to help customers, adding a chatbot to enhance that personalized experience is often a no-brainer.
Website chatbots can perform many different functions:
- Greetings to clients.
- Automatically suggests FAQ articles.
- Appointment booking.
2. Facebook chatbot
Facebook’s chatbot platform over Messenger is another key piece of technology to keep an eye on.
If your brand isn’t already on Facebook, you’re seriously missing out.
Facebook Messenger chatbots not only provide automated messaging to respond or provide information, but also serve as a central hub for much marketing on social networks for some of the biggest brands in the industry.
And as more conversational bots continue to be developed, more businesses are sure to see an increase in sales and productivity.
With more than 1.2 billion active monthly users on Facebook Messenger, businesses that are on Facebook can immediately see the value of adding a chatbot to their Messenger presence.
However, diving into Facebook Messenger chatbots requires you to have a good understanding of your existing user base.
The Business Advantage of Chatbots Beyond Customer Support
The business decision to implement chatbots does not have to be only about offering customers a better experience in terms of customer service.
Reduction of operating costs
Since chatbots can help with the 4 most common frustrations such as getting quick answers to simple things or getting basic business information, chatbots can easily perform basic support tasks.
For example, when a customer asks a common question , the chatbot can easily understand the context and provide an FAQ article explaining your shipping policies.
If a customer wants to know how they can place an international order, a chatbot is uniquely suited to provide a quick answer to that.
Even if a customer asks how they can speak to a human, a chatbot can easily escalate the request to your support team.
Lead generation automation
Chatbots can help your business acquire customers more easily than human agents.
That’s because modern chatbots use natural language processing and direct messaging to talk to customers.
By asking a series of qualifying questions, you direct users to the best place to find the information they want.
For example:
- Hello! My name is ……. can I help you with something?
- Which products are you interested in? We offer A, B and C.
- Need help with this product? We have an article here that can provide you with more details. Would you like to read it?
- What time would you like us to call you?
- What is your contact information so I can pass this on to our team?
Your chatbot implementation can also intelligently analyze what the customer has completed or not completed.
Why are chatbots important?
Chatbot applications simplify the interaction between people and services, improving the user experience. At the same time, they offer companies new opportunities to improve the customer engagement process and operational efficiency by reducing typical customer service costs.
To be successful, a chatbot solution should be able to perform both of these tasks effectively. Human support plays a key role here: regardless of the type of access and platform, human intervention is crucial in the configuration, training and optimization of the chatbot system.
If you want to improve your business, we offer chatbot installation services on a website or Facebook/Instagram.
